Thread: Gappy dovetail tips?

Use your dovetail saw to cut a kerf in the joint between the pin and tail, then tap in a sliver with a bit of glue. Trim it off with a chisel or block plane after it has dried.

Originally Posted by silentC

Use your dovetail saw to cut a kerf in the joint between the pin and tail, then tap in a sliver with a bit of glue. Trim it off with a chisel or block plane after it has dried.

Bingo If you do it well it's very hard to see. I slightly taper the sliver so it snugs up well when it's tapped in

What SilentC said.

I think what I would have done in that case is to push the pin board in tight so that it is sitting on the baseline of the socket and I would have inserted the slivers either side of the pin, rather than sliding them in under the pin, which tends to push the pin board forward.

What usually happens when these go astray is that your baseline is accurate because it is cut with a chisel off the marked line, but the sides of the socket may be out through sloppy cutting or cutting the wrong side of the line. So you need to narrow the socket, rather than shorten it if that makes sense.

But at the end of the day, it all comes out in the wash

I had the same problem with my 1st box....big gaps. What I did was mix PVA glue with matching saw dust from the wood your using to make a putty like substance then wedge the putty into the cracks. You can also try filling the gaps with PVA glue and while it is still wet, sand over the areas with the gaps, this will cause the saw dust to fall on the wet glue.

Try and avoid it happening the first time.

Buy one of those jap saws. You'll get cleaner cuts over the western ones. Generally. Transfer with a knife over chalk dust. start each cut with small back and forth movements until the kerfs established. With practise you should get fits straight from the saw.

I've got one of these things from Lee Valley and find it very easy to get spot on dovetails. I've never been on for buying jigs to help me but for the price I found it worth the risk and was pleasantly surprised at it's preformance.

Another thing to try is this: fit the tails a little high, then peen them into the gaps. When all has dried, just plane or pare it flush.

Regards from Perth

Derek

What Silent C said...not that I ever have any gaps, of course.

not that I ever have any gaps, of course

Nor me. Being a perfectionist if that ever happened to me, I'd make the box or whatever smaller